by A. M. Sohma
“I can’t keep aggro!” Gil shouted.
Kit coughed, still choking on the black smoke, but she glared up at her name where another curse icon had appeared. This new curse was a powerful de-buff that severely cut her stats. She was basically a sitting duck. She staggered out of the cloud, narrowly avoiding being impaled by the shadow reaper’s scythe.
“Gut Buster!” Axel jumped at the shadow reaper, but it didn’t even turn to look at him as it extended a hand and clenched its fist. Chains of black smoke formed around Axel’s throat and yanked him backwards, slamming him to the ground.
Prowl tried throwing daggers at the foul being from the treetops, but the shadow reaper followed him with its gaping eye sockets and, using its scythe, cut straight through the branches, toppling the saboteur out of the trees.
“Earthen Pit!” Riko shouted.
A hole opened up below the shadow reaper, but it did not fall into it. Instead it stood on a disk of shadows and sneered at the druid. “Is this truly the best you can do?” It slammed its sickle into the ground, and the same shadow-like chains that had subdued Axel wrapped around Riko.
Kit stopped dancing and turned, intending to move behind a tree, when hot pain exploded across her lower back as the shadow reaper sliced her.
She collapsed on the ground with a cry, her health bar hovering at about 5% remaining.
I guess I miscalculated. He may be more than we can take on. But what else could we have done?
Kit tried to stand, but the scythe blow had struck her with a slight paralysis, freezing her legs in place. Terrified, Kit swiveled to face the creature head-on. She gulped as it stood before her, its sickle raised high.
“The darkness will greet your soul,” it said before swinging.
Kit stiffened herself for a blow...but it never came.
17
Pledged Protection
“Beloved’s Guard!”
When the shadow reaper’s blow struck Kit, it hit an iridescent blue shield. Her health didn’t budge an inch.
The shadow reaper straightened. “What?” it hissed. “How can this be?”
Solus Miles, riding a white charger, crashed into the clearing. He dismounted his horse as it galloped past, then pulled his sword from its scabbard in a move as smooth as butter. Holding it in front of him, he stood before Kit, guarding her.
“What. What. WHAT?” Riko babbled as the shadow-like chains that had restricted her and Axel faded. “Did he just say beloved?”
Kit gaped at the man standing in front of her, her jaw dangling freely.
“Seriously, people. Did Solus Miles just say Beloved’s Guard?” Riko demanded.
The shadow reaper swung its scythe at Solus. The royal knight held firm, his health bar barely dinging from the hit as he remained crouched in front of Kit. “If you want credit for killing this thing,” he growled in his deep voice. “I can’t kill it for you. Your party will have to.”
Kit shook off her shock. “Prowl, Cookie, use daggers and nail the reaper from a distance. Vic, use Fireball. Axel and Gil, use your melee attacks, and Riko hit him with whatever you can!”
“Woo hoo!” Axel darted forward and stabbed the shadow reaper through the gut.
The creature didn’t even look at him. It roared in anger and instead kept striking out at Solus Miles, who stood as still as a mountain.
“Why is Solus Miles here? And why did he just say Beloved’s Guard?” Riko demanded. Though she seemed distracted, she was surprisingly adept with entangling the shadow reaper’s feet with vines as it kept up its fruitless attack.
“Kitten Lovemuch is my pledged,” Solus Miles said. (Kit almost laughed as she was still able to hear the barely discernible disbelief in his voice.)
“What!?” Riko shrieked. “How! When! Why?” When the shadow reaper turned to take a swipe at Axel, the druid wrapped vines around its neck and dragged them backwards, almost tipping the monster over. “Kit, did you know you are married to the best player on the server?” she asked.
Kit used a tree to climb to her feet, shaking off the worst of the mild paralytic. “Of course I knew, and we’re not married, just pledged. We had a bad run-in with Habakkuk the Hermit of Love.” She took a few tottering steps like a baby lamb, and then managed to launch into Battlefield March.
“How can you be taking this so calmly? This is Solus Miles!” Riko said. “Do you know how much money he has?”
“And there stands the reason for her shock and awe. Ladies and Gentlemen, the greedy hag.” Prowl took a moment from attacking to bow and gesture at Riko.
“Who cares about Kit’s new boy toy?” Vic snapped. “We have bigger issues. Like, why isn’t this thing dying?”
One of Solus Miles’ eyebrows popped up. “Boy toy?” He said in a voice that was dangerously low.
“Vic has a point. This shadow reaper isn’t going down fast enough,” Cookie shouted. “Even if we aren’t taking damage, we’re all running low on mana.”
“Shadow Reapers have high defense,” Solus Miles said.
Kit rummaged through her memories of class traits and skills. “I don’t think any of us have any skills that can counter that. Unless—Prowl do you have something?”
Prowl leaped backwards when the shadow reaper took a shot at him. “Not at this level, no.”
“Grrr.” Kit scratched her ears and shut her eyes in concentration as she mentally replayed boss battles she had taken part of as Azarel. Being so fragile, she was constantly placed a safe distance from the battle, and she was always careful to line up the release of her spells with the de-buffs of support players. Combine that with her sniper role in PVP, and Kit had memorized a ridiculous number of class skills.
She knew dancers had a basic de-buff skill. She had seen it used in hundreds of battles. So why didn’t she have it?! “It’s the one where they dance in reverse. What was it called?”
“I respect that you’re our tactical genius and all, but how is muttering to yourself with your eyes squeezed shut helping?” Prowl asked. He threw a fistful of pepper grit at the shadow reaper, but it didn’t work.
Kit ignored him. “Prowl, Riko, do you remember that dancer buff skill that worked in reverse and cast a de-buff on enemies?”
“Yeah.” Riko frowned as she cast another round of Nature’s Bindings on the shadow reaper. “What about it?”
“Was that a learnable skill—one you can teach yourself outside of leveling?” Kit asked.
Riko shook her head. “I don’t know… It was one of the basic skills—if a dancer got it they learned it before level thirty.”
“Then there’s a chance.” Most learnable skills had to be forced before level thirty—by then your character build would branch out and become more specialized.
The likelihood that the de-buff was actually learnable wasn’t good, but Kit couldn’t think of anything else to do. With her heart pounding in her chest, Kit stopped Battlefield March.
Gil glanced in her direction and tilted his head. “Miss Kit?”
Prowl was not so subtle. “What the heck are you doing?” he demanded as he stabbed the shadow reaper in the back.
Kit bit her lip as she mentally worked through the steps of Battlefield March in reverse—which was surprisingly difficult. “Trying a hail-mary pass.” She fumbled several times as she tried to get the rhythm and smoothness down.
“I’m no sportsman, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what a hail-mary pass is.” Vic threw another fireball at the shadow reaper with a grunt.
Prowl pulled his goggles off his forehead so quickly the band snapped audibly. “Trying to force a skill in the middle of a battle is not a winning strategy, Kit. We don’t have time for this!” He shouted as Kit was finally able to perform the first few steps of Battlefield March in reverse with a little more elegance.
A trumpet sounded.
Congratulations! You have learned the secret dancer skill: Counterdance
Your sense of rhythm is so groovy you can dance backwards—just don’t
trip!
Skill effect: Casts reverse effect on enemy forces of the last dance you performed, at the dancer’s skill level.
Kit couldn’t help it. “HAH!” She snorted as she arrogantly tilted her chin up.
A little icon of a music note appeared under the shadow reaper’s name, marking Counterdance’s de-buff. As the last dance Kit had performed was Battlefield March, Counterdance—casting the reverse effect—hit the monster with a physical attack and defense de-buff.
YES! I knew dancers had a defense de-buff. With this, it should be easier for everyone to damage the shadow reaper!
“Keep dancing—it’s working,” Riko said.
Gil was the first to step in and wallop the shadow reaper. “Hammer Strike!”
“Gut Buster,” Axel shouted and stabbed the shadow reaper on the other side.
Prowl and Cookie descended on the shadow reaper’s back, chiseling away with their daggers.
“Fireball!” Vic shouted. Her attack was powerful enough that it finally set the shadow reaper’s ratty cloak on fire.
The shadow reaper howled as the party continued to rain attacks down on him, and Solus Miles kept aggro. When it had only a bit of health left, Riko had built up enough mana. “Earthen Pit!”
The earth once again opened up under the shadow reaper, and this time it fell in and was crushed between the slabs of earth, stealing its last bit of health.
The shadow reaper made a noise like shattering glass. “I have fallen, but you will never defeat my master,” it promised as its eye sockets started to glow a putrid poison green. “Malignus will succeed, and Lord Valdis will rise again and devour all in his path!”
Axel snorted. “Whatever. Say your prayers, creep.” He stabbed his sword into the creature’s chest cavity. Shadows exploded from the monster before it crumpled like paper and faded.
Instantly, the area was flooded with noises announcing level increases for most of the party, and a list of the drops popped up in Kit’s view.
Kit let her legs give out and slumped to the ground. “What the french toast—that was way too close for comfort.”
“I’d say so,” Prowl snorted.
“What inspired you to attack the shadow reaper in the first place?” Vic asked.
“Ahhh, Solus mentioned that if it successfully killed us, it would steal the seals. And as it will keep growing in levels every time we see it, I thought now was our best shot,” Kit said.
All eyes turned to Solus, who ignored them as he sheathed his sword.
“Well, we did it, and that’s what matters,” Riko said.
“Yes, and now we can rest assured that we won’t have to face the reaper in the future,” Gil added.
“So we’re halfway through the quest, and I assume this means we got the worst battle out of the way?” Cookie asked.
Vic shrugged. “Beats me.”
“In all probability, yes,” Riko said. “Although I believe the human seal and fae seal will be more difficult to retrieve than the last two.”
“Hey, getting that elf seal was the pits,” Prowl said. “But yeah, you have to go on some long quests lines to get the last two seals.”
Kit chuckled as she listened to her party and sorted through the drops the umbra-noxes and the shadow reaper had dropped. (There was no dancer-appropriate gear, of course.) It had been a tough fight, but they did well. Kit was even pleased with her own class! Counterdance had been a great support skill to have.
Solus stood in front of her, casting a shadow over her. “How did you know about Counterdance?”
Kit startled and looked up. “Sorry, what?”
The royal knight blinked. “How did you know about Counterdance?”
Kit tried to discreetly tug the hem of her skirt down. “Um, it used to be a common skill on certain dancer builds ages ago, and I knew all it involved was reversing a dance order…sooo I gave it a shot.”
Solus silently stared at her.
“Thanks, by the way,” Kit added after a few uncomfortable moments. “I would have died if you hadn’t arrived when you did.”
He nodded, ignoring Riko who was rubbing her hands and beaming at him behind his back. Kit glanced guiltily off to the side. He’s a lot nicer and more tolerant than I originally thought. Woops.
Solus narrowed his eyes slightly, making a striking picture as the morning sun—now strong and warm—lit up the trees behind him, giving him a halo effect. “If you need me, PM me,” he said abruptly.
Kit blinked. “T-thanks! I appreciate it—but you don’t have to help me as a bribe to get me to break off the pledge, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Solus shrugged his shoulders, then whistled. His charger—a white stallion who was most likely a rare reward or drop based on its fancy sparkling blue and white tack and armor pieces—strode into the clearing and snorted. It halted next to Solus and pawed at the ground with a black hoof.
Solus climbed up with one hand and twitched his cloak over his horse’s back. He glanced at Kit—once again raising an eyebrow that gave his stone expression a slightly disbelieving/disdainful look—then nodded. He nudged his horse forward, and the charger strode off into the trees, disappearing from view.
Kit scratched her head—confused and puzzled by his actions—as she watched him go.
No sooner had his horse’s hoofbeats faded from hearing than Riko pounced on Kit.
“How on earth did you get Solus Miles to marry you? You played before his time—you can’t personally know him!”
Kit sighed. “It wasn’t by choice. Habakkuk the Hermit of Love struck.”
Riko blinked rapidly. “You two talked to the elopement hermit?”
“Yep.” Kit turned back to the rest of the party. “Well done, guys. Everyone should have a new piece of armor or a new weapon in their inventory. It was tense for a few minutes there, but I think we did really great considering the circumstances.”
Riko scratched the inside of her ear. “Avoiding talking more about your pledge, hmm? That’s fine. We can just whistle up your boyfriend whenever we want more information.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Kit said through a clenched smile. “Next, I think we should go for the human seal, but we should go back to Luminos first. I need to visit the White Veil Nunnery as I’ve been cursed. Again.”
Cookie winced in sympathy. “I hope it doesn’t cause you any pain like the last one?”
“No, but all my stats will be docked until I get it removed, so my buffs won’t be as strong.” Kit scowled up at the little skull icon below her name, then relaxed. A little curse like this is nothing compared to the threat the shadow reaper posed.
She cleared her throat. “While I’m doing that, you guys can get new gear. We’ve gotten enough levels, and the next area will be difficult enough that we should probably tinker with our characters and raid my loft for higher-leveled gear before we start it.”
“I am interested to see what I can do to boost my damage.” Vic picked up her cat as it meowed at her feet. “Seeing the damage Heaven’s Fury caused was…”
“Overpowering?” Axel suggested.
“Invigorating,” Vic said.
“To Luminos it is, then!” Cookie said.
Gil partially bowed. “As you wish.”
As the other party members whistled up their horses, Riko gave Kit the stink eye. “You do realize this means you can’t trash Kitten Lovemuch after we get out of here, right? You want to talk about having a special character? She’s it. No one else can boast of being pledged to Solus Miles.”
Kit’s ear twitched as she listened. “It’s not like he actually likes me.” She looked from one side of the clearing to the other—she could have sworn she heard the creaking of a bowstring being pulled back. “Do you hear something?”
Riko mounted her horse. “Hear what?”
Kit looked up at the trees, and groaned when she saw an elf guard crouched on a branch with a nocked arrow aimed at her. “Wait—I’m just leaving—”
&
nbsp; The elf cut her off before she could say anything more, killing her with one arrow to the heart. Everything went black as the game faded away.
Kit woke up in the Fìone respawn area with a growl. “Festering elves!” she snarled. “I take back what I said—even a saint couldn’t like this character! I hate it!” She pounded the earth with a fist for a moment then sighed as her frustration left her.
The wind brushed the back of her neck.
“We successfully evaded the scouts,” Riko said. “So, we’ll meet you at the respawn area and then head for the teleportation gate?”
Kit pulled a fistful of grass out of the ground, picturing it as the elf guard’s perfect hair. “Yeah. See you soon.”
“Don’t mind it, Kit,” Cookie said over the party chat. “One day you’ll get back at them.”
“Thanks, Cookie.”
When the party chat went silent, Kit stood up and brushed herself off. The sun cast golden light through the trees, and the air was alive with the trill of song birds and the scent of dew.
If it’s a deathtrap we’re playing, it’s a beautiful one.
Kit rolled her shoulders back and nodded to herself. That’s right—that’s what matters, ending this quest and getting out of here. She pulled up her character panel and, in spite of her realistic outlook, was still disappointed to see the dimmed community tab.
“We’ll get out,” Kit promised herself. “And we’ll take as many people with us as we can. But for now…we’re one step closer. And that will have to be enough.”
Bryce Napert, one of the community managers of Chronicles of Retha, paced in his small office.
The corrupt servers, the inability to disconnect players, all of it had created a PR nightmare that was playing out publicly as time continued to pass. It didn’t look good for the company, but what was more terrifying was that they were no closer to solving the horror than they had been when they first realized the backup servers were corrupted hours ago.
However, though Bryce was a loyal EC employee, the company was not his primary worry. It was his cousin, Kit.